diff --git a/drivers/tty/tty_io.c b/drivers/tty/tty_io.c
index 16a2c0237dd6..4021c10d9908 100644
--- a/drivers/tty/tty_io.c
+++ b/drivers/tty/tty_io.c
@@ -1709,6 +1709,7 @@ int tty_release(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp)
 	int	pty_master, tty_closing, o_tty_closing, do_sleep;
 	int	idx;
 	char	buf[64];
+	long	timeout = 0;
 
 	if (tty_paranoia_check(tty, inode, __func__))
 		return 0;
@@ -1793,7 +1794,11 @@ int tty_release(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp)
 				__func__, tty_name(tty, buf));
 		tty_unlock_pair(tty, o_tty);
 		mutex_unlock(&tty_mutex);
-		schedule();
+		schedule_timeout_killable(timeout);
+		if (timeout < 120 * HZ)
+			timeout = 2 * timeout + 1;
+		else
+			timeout = MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT;
 	}
 
 	/*